KALAMAZOO — On the surface it may seem like Rachel Eliza Griffiths and Kevin Fenton have very little in common.

Griffiths works with photography, painting, fiction and poetry. Currently residing in New York City, she has spent the majority of her life traveling.

Both her photography and her newest collection of poetry, “Mule & Pear,” consciously capture brief moments in time that would otherwise be lost in a quickly changing world.

Fenton on the other hand, a native of Winona, Minn., though currently residing in St. Paul, has an affinity for the pacing of a small Midwestern town. Raised on a farm, Fenton’s writing shows off an earthy, almost static side of humanity. His debut novel, “Merit Badges,” uses bowling as its central metaphor and how the sport is related to the psyche of the northern Midwest.

New Issues Press, the literary imprint of Western Michigan University, will be bringing both Griffiths and Fenton to Kalamazoo for readings of “Merit Badges” and “Mule & Pear.”

Beyond the artists’ mutual publishing house and genre-bending styles they also possess a sort of shared history, albeit one that until Thursday’s reading will have never crossed.

Both currently work as teachers; Griffiths a full-time creative writing professor at New York’s Sarah Lawrence College and Fenton as an instructor at St. Paul’s literary center The Loft.

Neither Fenton nor Griffiths had initially intended to be published authors, but memories from their childhoods sparked creativity within them both.

Fenton, who has spent much of his adult life working as a freelance advertising writer in the Twin Cities, wanted to tell a tale of friends growing up, growing apart and coming together in an isolated Minnesota town. He invented Minnisapa, which was based on his own hometown.

Griffiths also had a story she wanted to tell, it just took her several years to realize it. Her story, however, is not linear like the story arc in “Merit Badges.” The story that Griffiths tells is collected in fragments, some of which are paintings, some are photographs and others are poems.

Kevin Fenton

It was the genre of poetry however that she had the most difficult time connecting with, or more appropriately accepting.

“I wrote a lot of fiction to be honest. I wrote poetry but I really focused on fiction. When I did my MFA at Sarah Lawrence I did it as a fiction writer,” Griffiths said.

Like Fenton, she decided to tell her own regional story. During her travels up and down the Eastern Seaboard she began to collect life’s fleeting moments in the form of poetry and photographs.

Which led her to write “Mule & Pear,” as well as to have the opportunity to showcase her photographs at the Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative. This will allow her to exhibit her entire range of artistic creations.

“(Fire) seems to contain a space that will let me exist as a poet but also as a photographer as well,” she said.

Fenton will also be making another stop while in Kalamazoo. The New Issues reading with Griffiths will precede a workshop on “taming an unruly manuscript,” which will take place in WMU’s Brown Hall on Friday.